Nature has it's Flaws
by The Legendary Black Beast of Argh
Summary: Sorry it's taken me so long to update! New chapters up!
1. The Rendezvous

Beautiful. Awe-inspiring. Exotic. There were many words that one would use to describe the planet of H'Karun, but all was normal to the natives.

Most of the people that inhabited H'Karun dealt with magic of some sort or the other, but the majority of H'Karun's people were sprites or, the rare wisdom-seeking nymphs. Faeries were there, of course, but they had crossbred with the other beings, so full faeries were almost non-existent. Everything was nice and gentle on the inside, but the tradition-bound people were aching for a revolution.

Elders, the wisest and most powerful, governed the various villages. Then the villages were divided up into sectors, ruled by governors, and then the all-powerful Mage ruled all of H'Karun. Only a son could take rule after his father, as was the same of everything else.

Women were of no power, they were there to raise the children, cook, and clean. That was their purpose. When they turned 21, they were married off to the family of the girl's choice. It was not like the extreme Muslim beliefs of ancient Earth, but it was still strict. The women were not allowed to associate with men unless it was for business and business only. They could have small merchant shops, but nothing other, or higher up on the chaste system. Overall, most women were happy with the way they lived; it was easy and not stressful. But some of the more feminist ones wanted to become writers, doctors, and teachers, all of which were denied to them. Revolution with a democratic government, instead of the current monarchy, was the only option.

Adasta looked at her garden. Well, the plot of bare soil that was soon to be her garden. She frowned, thinking of what plants she wanted to grow there. She focused them all in her mind, and closed her eyes, seeing the garden full of plants. She spread her hands, slowly bringing them upward, feeling her magic emitting off of her. She felt the life beginning there, felt the seedlings sprout, then grow from babies to mature producers. She opened her gold-flecked amber eyes, smiling at her accomplishment. Her garden looked exactly as she had pictured it. Full of life and just as beautiful. Her cupid-like lips parted in a wide smile.

Adasta was a nymph. An earth nymph, to be exact. A fairly common element, but to a nymph, it was the best to have control over. She could grow flowers and plants out of thin air, even out of her palm.

She tossed her tawny shoulder length strawberry-blondish hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear as she went into her parents' home. It was nice and spacious, with hardly any doors, only exquisite archways. Plants were everywhere, especially in Adasta's room. She sighed happily.

"Ready for the dancing tonight, Adasta?" Her mother asked, as she swept gracefully into the room. Her mother always held a regal air about her, like she was royalty.

"Of course!" Adasta replied happily. Her mother smiled gently.

Adasta was Gracarda's only daughter, and only child. She had to have surgery done to prevent her from bearing any more children. Gracarda had always treasured Adasta's bubbly personality and her quickness at learning. Adasta wanted to be a doctor, but since the laws prohibited it, she could not. That is why Gracarda had named her Adasta, for 'wishing star'. That was the reason for Gracarda to join one of the rebel Revolution groups.

"I'm going to wear my new clothes," Adasta said, looking at her mother as her father strolled in.

Adasta and Gracarda bowed their heads to their 'superior' gently. He nodded at them, and they looked up.

"Good morning, dear husband," Gracarda said, getting up and hugging Cyton.

"Good morning, Father," Adasta chirped to him. "Going to the dance tonight?" She asked, getting up and pouring three steaming cups of green tea.

"Yes," He said, sipping his tea delicately. "Are you?"

"Yes," Adasta replied. "I'm going to go into the market today and get a new outfit." She looked up at him. She was not yet 21, she still had one more week of freedom left.

"You may go," Her father said sternly. "But no where else," Braun ordered. Adasta bowed her head in submission. After they ate their breakfast, she dressed in her outing clothes and went to market.

She bought a new bra-like top, and a matching amber sarong skirt. It took her a long time to barter with the toothless jewelry dealer over an amber necklace and earring set.

"One hundred sou," The old man said.

"This set is not even worth fifty," Adasta said scornfully, smiling inside. She had already knocked him down by fifty sou, which meant she was doing good. "I will give you seventy-five." She said.

"Ninety." He countered. Today was not Balthar's day.

"Eighty," She said, frowning still, pretending not to like the set.

"Seventy-five," He said nervously, his words slurred somewhat.

"Done!" Adasta said triumphantly. She handed the old man the sous and grabbed her new jewelry happily. "Good day to you!" She called as she was walking away.

She could hardly wait till the dance (Rendezvous). It was in three hours, and she was already dressed and applying her make-up. Her golden amber clothes were gorgeous. And when she put on her amber jewelry, she looked like the sun goddess.

She took her gold eye-stick (like eyeliner and eye shadow rolled into one) and applied a thin line on her lower eyelid, bringing out the line a few centimeters. Then she shadowed her upper lid, and brought out the line there, connecting the upper and lower lines, like the Egyptians of Ancient Earth used to do. She put tawny beeswax on her lips and rubbed them together, tasting the sweetness of the wax. She smiled then went down to her parents.

When she got there, the drums were already playing and some people were dancing. (Think the big party scene in Zion in the Matrix reloaded) The atmosphere was teeming with energy from all of the people. This was the only thing where married women could do whatever they pleased. Adasta smiled widely. Already several young men about marriage had approached her. She had ignored them all, feigning she already had a love. That was not true; to her all of the H'Karun men were obnoxious and stupid.

She swayed and moved with the music, feeling it surging through her. Her eyes were closed, and her mouth was partly open. She felt as if she was floating on heaven. Lush grasses and flowers, being grown and nurtured by the magic emitting from her, had carpeted her area of dancing. She twisted and twirled in small circles, feeling the power of the people pounding through her. That was when the voice was heard.

"Revolution!" It screamed to the mass of swaying people. "Power to women!" The music stopped, the dancing stopped. The tension in the air was so thick that you could cut it with a blade. Then the pandemonium began.

Magi, the Mages elite army, stormed into the large cavern where the Rendezvous was being held. Screams from women in pain, being sliced in half, blanketed the air. Angered men's roars, accompanied by the beating of over five hundred pairs of feet, bombarded Adasta's ears, almost deafening her.

Looking around her, she saw an exit that was unblocked by the Magi. She ran towards it desperately, fear pulsing through her. She heard grunts towards her left, and saw a huge, very muscular man fighting with a Magi. The muscular man was already wounded by a huge gash in his side. For no reason at all, Adasta ran over and stood behind him, facing the guard.

"Stop!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, grabbing the arm of the Magi's opponent and pushing him out of the way. The battle-crazed Magi warrior rounded on her, and she summoned her magic, thrusting her palm out. A huge vine shot out, wrapping itself around the guard, and throwing him to the floor, rendering him unconscious. Adasta froze in the waves of people, unaware of their existence. She had defied a Magi. Now, if they found her, she would be put to death. At the sound of falling rock, she jerked back to reality and tried to run, but was tackled by two Magi. A piercing pain filled her stomach. Vaguely thinking, 'I am impaled on a sword, as she crumpled to the floor, in a pool of her own blood, unable to defend herself. They had seen her attack their companion, and were going to kill her.

The goliath she had saved ran up and threw them off of her. She got her senses back, and began crawling to the exit again. Her journey was cut short by falling rock.

She was struck on the head by a good-sized stone, and it knocked her to the floor, unconscious. The last thing she felt was being nudged by a boot, then being tossed over a huge shoulder.

"What in the fuck am I doing?" Riddick thought to himself as he ran through the crowd of screaming people. He wasn't even sure why he came here in the first place. He felt something warm seeping through his tank top, and realized it was the girl's blood. He felt pity for her. She probably wouldn't make it to his ship. She couldn't have been more than twenty or so. And when she had shot those freaky vines out of her hands… damn. That was freaky.

He reached his ship quicker than he thought he would, and moved quickly to the med bay. The girls' breathing was becoming shallower, lighter, and quicker. He began to worry. It was probable that she would die before he could save her. She had saved his life- basically- and he felt obliged to save hers.

His boots clunked loudly through the steel hallways as he reached the med bay. He laid her gently on the metal examination table, and got out the kit, and began examining her wound.

It was not a long gash. It was only four inches long, but it was pretty deep. The sword hadn't hit any major organs or arteries, which was good, but stitches were needed. The girl stirred, but she didn't wake up. Her fingers twitched, and Riddick realized that she was going into shock. He got a rag and wetted it with ice-cold water, and laid it on her forehead.

He turned on the bright examination lights, and aimed them at her stab wound. He grimaced again. Geez. It was surprising that she wasn't dead already.

Riddick got a syringe and filled it with anesthetics, and injected above the crook of her elbow, directly into her bloodstream. Second, he went and got the cleansing stuff and poured it on the wound, and it sizzled and did its stuff, finally dying away. Then, came the bad part. He had to stitch it. He didn't mind killing people, just that operating on someone other than himself made his stomach flip-flop.

Riddick went and got a sharp needle and the strong adhesive thread used for medical purposes, and began his task.

He pinched the skin together gently, and pushed the needle through the skin. It came out blood-stained. He looped it over and tied a knot. So far, so good.

He made six more stitches before butterfly bandaging. He felt like puking. Hell, he hated operating.

Riddick picked her up gently, and carried her into his room, and laid her on his bed, pulling the covers around her and propping her head up on the pillow. He took one last glance before walking to the bridge and sitting in the pilot's seat, chin in his hand. He took off with out much trouble, and was soon floating leisurely in space. He still did not know who this girl was, or the whereabouts of her family. He did know that she was going to be pissed off when she woke up, though.

Adasta woke in a blanket of pain, especially on her side. She tore the blanket away from her body, investigating Riddick's handiwork. The stitches were clean and precise, and the area around it was clean, but the rest of her body was not. Her new clothes were covered in blood and dirt.

She groaned as she sat up. The air around her was biting cold, and she shivered, pulling the blanket tightly around her. She stood up, the pads of her feet meeting the cold steel of the ship.

Adasta looked around the ship curiously. She had never been inside a spaceship before. Tradition banned women from traveling more than three villages away. Adasta hated that.

The ship was interesting to her, but she didn't like the cold unfriendly steel of the room she was in. She frowned, and looked around. Adasta saw a bucket in the corner, and walked over to it and picked it up.

She sat on the floor, and blew air into the bucket, thinking about mineral nutritious soil. Her warm breath materialized into the soil she had been thinking of, and, pinching her forefinger and thumb together tightly then pulling them apart, she made a large seed.

Delicately, unaware of the large man standing in the doorway behind her, she planted the seed. She held her hand in the air above where the seed was, palm down, and brought her hand up, sending her magic flowing out of her to the seedling beneath the soil. The seed sprouted and grew, and burst out of the dirt layer, sending its branches up. Flowers budded and bloomed, petals a delicate periwinkle blue.

Adasta smiled at her handiwork, and set the now-occupied bucket in the middle of the room. She stood up stretching, and looked around for a shower.

"Can all of you people do that shit?" A low voice rumbled at her. She jumped and leapt onto the bed, back against the wall. Her amber eyes were wide open in fear.

Riddick could smell her fear everywhere. He knew that it was because he had startled her while she was… playing green thumb. He also knew that she was trying to blend in with her surroundings so he might not see her. He looked at her through his black goggles, suddenly interested.

He took one step towards her, and she squeaked, and jerked her hands up. He thought a bug or something had bitten her, but that all changed when a tree trunk enveloped her and closed her off to him, leaving only one small peephole to look through. He raised his eyebrows at her defense mechanism. The trunk was covered in huge four-inch long thorns, and he stepped up to look through the hole. He took his goggles off and looked through the hole, and saw her still cowering against the wall, like a frightened little bird. She saw his eye at the gap, and looked at him with interest in her eyes.

His eyes were silver. Silver like the steel room she was in, steel like the moons over her home. They were beautiful, gorgeous, and awe-inspiring. Never had she seen eyes like his, and she bent closer to look at them.

Riddick watched her, interested. Her fear was almost gone, and was replaced by curiosity, awe, and mischievousness. He wondered what she was going to do. No girl, except Jack, had ever looked at him like she was doing. She had not been afraid of the dark, she had been afraid of what was in the dark. His silver eyes bored into her amber ones, almost as if he was trying to read her soul.

"Hey, you can come out-" He began to say, but she blinked quickly and squeaked again, and the same vines shot out of the trunk and wrapped around his waist, picking him up and depositing him gently in the hallway. They flew back into the room and into the tree, and the door slid shut quickly. He got up and rubbed his midsection angrily. "Thrown out of my own fuckin' room," He grumbled, before going to the kitchen for a cup of coffee.

Adasta made the tree trunk vanish, and climbed gingerly off of the bed, checking to make sure the big man hadn't gotten back in. She knew that he had saved her, but she was terribly shy and didn't know why she had reacted the way she had done. After she had checked in every nook and cranny, she opened the door and quietly stepped out into the hallway.

The hall was long and just as bare as the room she had been in. Adasta suspected that it was the man's room. She did not stop to 'improve' the hallway, instead she walked quietly down the hall, looking at all the doors individually and reading any map she came too.

Curiosity, as well as a need to decorate her new surroundings, filled her. Her spirit was back to it's normal bouncy self when she saw the window. Desperation filled her as she realized that she was in space. A realization that she could not see her parents again made her almost cry. But, a weight felt as if it was being lifted off of her chest, as she realized that she would not have to marry in a week, as long as she stayed here, which to her was doubtful. She turned away, making a mental not that she would have to come back and look out again.

She turned the corner, and saw the big man walking towards her. She ducked to the wall again, and he turned and went into a room. Adasta hoped that he didn't see her.

Riddick had seen her looking through the window, and was going to try to approach her again, but she had gotten frightened and had ducked away. He smiled. He would let her come to him.

Adasta went to the doorway he had walked through, and read the inscription. 'Kitchen', it said. She smiled, and felt hunger pains. She walked up closer to it, and it slid open, the gears squealing slightly. She walked in cautiously, and saw him leaning against the countertop, sipping some coffee. The same fear thudded through her, but the curiosity overpowered it. She looked at him, studying his body, his face, and his clothing. He was large and muscular- very muscular. His muscles were almost too much for her taste. He was dressed plainly, she noticed, and was wearing goggles for an odd reason.

Riddick knew she was studying him. It was normal for a new acquaintance to do that. He also sensed her curiosity again.

"Decided to come out, did you?" He asked, looking at her. She smiled a bit, looking at him.

"Yes," Adasta said. Her eyes flicked to the floor, then back up at him. She smiled. His face showed no emotion, but she knew his eyes would if she could see them. "Can I see your eyes?" She asked quietly, looking at him from across the room.

Her request made him falter a bit. No one had ever asked him that. He cocked an eyebrow, then reached up and pulled off his goggles. She smiled widely again, confirming that it was he. She walked up to him silently and delicately, until she was a few inches away from him.

Adasta was easily a foot shorter than him, and she tilted her head up, looking at him happily, studying his eyes. She blinked slowly, looking in to their crystalline depths. They were the prettiest eyes she had ever seen! Like diamonds, or polished crystal. She tilted her head to one side, and the colors shifted and swirled, until they became the same marble-like orbs.

'What the hell is this chick doing?' He thought. He felt like she was judging him or something. He felt like doing something, then she straightened back up.

"Where is your shower?" She asked.


	2. Flowers Accompany Death

For a second, he contemplated how he would respond. If he hadn't of had his guard up, he would have raised an eyebrow. It seemed to him that this new girl was almost completely at ease around him. Either she could read minds, or she was completely insane. He just looked at her, and shook his head.

"Across the hall," He said, looking down at her. She smiled widely again, and walked out of the kitchen, a bounce in her step.

Riddick had no idea why this girl felt so unafraid around him. Maybe she hadn't heard of him. He put his mug in the sink, and continued to think about the girl with no name. Well, she had to have one, she just hadn't told him. She was confusing.

By studying her body, he had concluded that she was almost 21, only a few years younger than him. He rubbed his stubbly face in his hands, reminding him that he, too, needed to shower.

Holy shit, she was showering across the hall and they didn't know each other's names. Holy shit, all over again.

Adasta looked at the shower happily. She loved the voice activated ones; they were very functional and amazing.

"Water, warm," She said loudly, and stripped down, and looked at her stab wound and stitches. She found a pair of small scissors and peeled the butterfly bandages off, and cut the stitches, and pulled on them gently, wincing from the pain as they slid through the scabbing flesh.

When they were out, she pressed her palm against the wound, closing her eyes. She felt her skin fusing together, and new flesh being born. She shivered as new nerves that had been severed were coming back together again. After she was done, all that remained was a thin scar. She found a bottle of shampoo and a bar of soap and went to work on her body, scrubbing furiously at the dirt, grime, and blood that was caked on her skin. She stepped out once, trying to find a razor, and almost slipped on the floor. Luckily, she caught herself on the sink before she fell. She found the razor and shaved her legs and armpits carefully, avoiding nicks.

When she was done, she felt squeaky clean, literally. Adasta wrapped a big towel around her body and walked back to her new room. After she rummaged around, she found a black tank top and some cargo pants. They were too big for her, but they would have to do.

She walked back to the kitchen, on the lookout for the big man once again. Only this time, she was anxious to find him. She returned to the kitchen, and searched high and low for something to eat, but didn't find anything. Puzzled, she sat on a chair.

"Hungry?" Riddick said, walking into the kitchen silently. Adasta brightened considerably when he came in. That surprised him to no end, especially when he noticed she was wearing his old clothes. Oh well.

"What's your name?" She asked, looking at him interestedly. He raised his eyebrows skeptically.

"Richard," He said. Last names would come later. Right now, Richard would be just fine. Adasta frowned.

"You are not a 'Richard'," She stated pointedly. "I will call you Rick." She folded her hands in her lap and smiled at him. "What are your ties?" Adasta asked.

"Ties?" Riddick replied, a bit confused.

"Yes, ties," Adasta said, looking at him like he was stupid. "Your family? Like," She said, holding her hand to her chest, "I am Adasta Morgause, daughter of Braun and Gracarda, Keeper of the Earth Spirit, Realm of the Northern Moon and Stars." She looked pleased with herself.

"Earth Spirit?" Riddick asked again. This was interesting.

"Duh!" She exclaimed. "I am a earth nymph." Once again, she looked incredibly pleased with her being.

"Will Adasta work?" He said.

"Yes." She smiled again. "Rick?" She asked, as he was getting ready to leave.

"Yeah?" He grumbled.

"Do you have food?"

He groaned and walked back over to her. Sensing that she might have done something wrong, Adasta said shamefully: "I looked all over, but you had none, so"

"It's a do-it-yourself thing," Riddick said, walking over and showing her the food generator. "Whatever you want, just say it and it'll make it."

Adasta's face lit up like a thousand stars, and she started talking all at once, while Riddick thought of ways to make her shut up. Most of them were vulgar and crude, but oh well, that's a regular man.

Eventually, she made up her mind to have some sort of a jello/pudding thing that looked oddly like vomit. Riddick grimaced as she devoured it.

"Want some?" She asked with her mouth full. He raised his eyebrows at her.

"No, thanks," He responded quickly. "Eating puke's not my thing." He said sarcastically.

"No! Really," Adasta persisted. "It's really scrumptious." She scooped up some and held it to him. Trying to be courteous, he took the spoon and put the concoction in his mouth.

He was surprised at how good it tasted. The taste reminded him of orange, guava, a bit of vanilla, and fruity gin all mixed together, then solidified.

"What is this stuff?" He asked, sitting across from her and taking another spoonful.

"Havienga," Adasta answered. "It's a dish served only at Representations," was her explanation.

"It's delicious," He said, getting up and going over to the food generator. "Dish, Havienga," he said loudly, and was answered by the whirring and churning of the machine as it produced it. Riddick grabbed a spoon and sat down at the table again.

"How's your, uh, wound doing?" He asked between mouthfuls. She smiled brightly and stood up, pulling her shirt up. He dropped the spoon, he was so surprised.

Her wound was gone, she had healed it in the shower, she explained.

"I can heal myself at will," She said, sitting back down. "I can only die from a truly mortal wound," Adasta said, looking at him. "Such as, decapitation or stabbing in my heart."

He looked her like she was insane. "You are aware that I could leap across this table and kill you now, right?" He asked, an edge to his voice. Now it was time to test this girl.

"Of course," Came her quick reply. "I am fully aware of that fact." She studied his face intently. "But, you saved my life and brought me here on your own free will. If you had meant to kill me, you would have taken the first opportunity to do so."

This chick was smart. "What if I mean to torture you?" he commented darkly.

"You would have done so already." She looked at him, and he looked at her through his goggles. She had the perfect mind for a killer, but she chose not to use it. That showed a great sense of self-control. He looked at her again. Her eyes were saying many different things; he knew she was honest, and that a tiny, delicate bond of trust for him was being born. He could tell that her mind was working equations now, as well: shipRiddick, Riddick (to her, right now)protection. He really didn't like that. She reminded him of Jack. _I need to go see her,_ he thought sullenly, remembering his promise to visit her and Imam.

They finished off their Havienga quickly, and Adasta scurried off to do some more exploring. Riddick expected more plants to be around before she was done.

Adasta made her way around, finding the dojo. She went in quietly, inspecting the room happily. There were several weight-lifting equipment things, and two punching bags in the corner. Mats were on the floor, and she suspected that they were used for some sort of wrestling. Extreme physical contact, excluding lovemaking, was forbidden on H'Karun, and was punished by lashes with metal-tipped bullwhips. She shuddered.

She left the dojo and walked around a bit, putting various plants here and there, livening the place up a bit. She intended to stay here for a bit, till she found a new home. Sure as hell wasn't going back to H'Karun. Gracarda and Braun would miss her, but Adasta knew that Gracarda was laden with child, so this would be best for them. She sighed, and walked through another door, ignoring the inscription.

She had reached the bridge.

Her eyes widened in amazement as she walked slowly to the huge windshield. Stars, hundreds of millions of glimmering, beautiful stars dotted the horizon. They twinkled like polished crystals in the sky, or like the metallic dustings of a butterfly's wings. Never before in her life had Adasta seen such a sight as this. She felt like a cosmos angel, being around such heaven-like beauty. A nebula burned over to the right, hues of purple and blue blending together in the center and spinning slightly. Riddick rudely interrupted her thoughts, once again.

"Never been out in space?" He asked, standing beside her.

"No," She said quietly. "Women are forbidden to travel on H'Karun," Sadness blanketed her voice. "Women are forbidden everything there,"

"So I take it that you don't want to go back there, huh?" He asked her. Adasta looked at him gratefully.

"For a convict, Mr. Riddick," She said with a smile, "You are actually quite decent."

Anger flooded through him, and he grabbed her shoulders painfully and threw her against the wall.

"When did you figure that out!" He yelled at her, his arm under her chin, cutting off her air.

"Since I saw you," She managed to croak. "I may be female, but I'm not stupid," And with that, her entire skin sprouted rose thorns, digging into Riddick's arm painfully. His eyes narrowed at her, but he did not flinch. "Let me go," she ordered.

"No," He retorted, "Not till you tell me everything about you and who might be after me," The rose thorns retreated back into her skin, but were replaced by locust thorns, and they came out very slowly, puncturing skin like needles.

"Let me down and I will," She yelled. He released her, and rubbed his arm. She was definitely a problem. "I was the only one who knew you there," She said, looking at his bleeding arm sympathetically. "Here," She said, and reached out to him. Her hand grabbed his bicep gently, and she rubbed her thumb over a particularly nasty puncture. Her eyes closed, and he felt magic pumping out of her and soothing his wounds, healing them. "No one is after you from H'Karun," She said. She sat down on the floor, rubbing her throat with her hand.

He felt no regret for lashing out at her. She had provoked it herself. He simply looked at her and then walked out and went to the dojo, where he spent most of his time anyway.

Adasta sat for a few moments, just thinking. Mainly she thought of where to live. She had heard much about Fuliton; it was a new planet that had very promising prospects. Fuliton was much like H'Karun geographically, but the government was the opposite; it was Adasta's dream come true. She sighed and looked back out at empty space. Adasta had known that she had provoked him. She had done it on purpose, to draw him out, to see what he was capable of. Now she knew that he could kill her if she made him angry enough. Once again, she sighed. Oh well. At least she had a couple thousand credits in the Intergalaxy Bank waiting for her.

He was beating on the punching bag when Adasta walked in.

"What do you want?" he asked meanly, slamming the bag with a huge fist. The punching bag swayed and bounced on its springs, threatening to crash to the floor. She smiled.

"Just lookin' around," She replied silkily.

"Go look somewhere else," Riddick snapped.

"Well well well," Adasta said curtly. "Are we in a bad mood now because you couldn't outfox a little girl?" She smiled innocently, but underneath that smile lay a beast not unlike Riddick's, one that hungered for brutality, pain, and death.

It was then that he snapped. He thrust his arm out, catching her midsection and throwing her across the room, slamming her into a wall.

Her breath caught in her throat as her bones creaked in her joints. She tumbled to the floor in a heap, but stood quickly. Her once-calm amber eyes now shot flames, and her doll-like face was contorted in fury, but her voice came out calm and collected:

"I am just as dangerous as you are." Was her statement.

He looked at her like she was insane. Shaking his head, he turned back to the punching bag and went at it. She turned and walked out of the room as silently as she had came in, casting one last look at him over her shoulder.

The next three weeks went by without much trouble. Riddick and Adasta got to know each other a little more, and there were a few more incidents where one of them got thrown around. Eventually, they got whatever the squabble was about got straightened out.

On the first day of the fourth week, Riddick was working on a loose bolt in the cargo hold when Adasta came in.

"Whatcha doin'?" She asked through a mouthful of green apple.

"Fixin' this goddamned rusty bolt," He grunted, pulling on the wrench. "Fuck it!" he swore, hitting the wrench. The bolt fell loose, releasing the beam. The huge chunk of iron fell quickly, catching Riddick's upper arm and throwing him across the hold.

Adasta panicked. Even though they had had their disagreements, they were working on becoming friends.

She ran up to him, releasing the apple and dropping beside his arm.

Blood was pumping quickly out of it, he was unconscious, and a bone was sticking out. Great. Just great. She fumbled with her hands, knowing that if she didn't get him to the med bay in a hurry, he was going to die.

Her only option was setting the bone, then getting him healed and up to the bay. Adasta's hands grasped his lower and upper arm, and, gently, she put them in their rightful places, and healed him. Using her vines, she made a hammock out of them and pulled Riddick up to the med bay and gave him some pain pills and let him rest.

She got some Havienga (which was now his favorite food) and set it on the table beside him, along with a cup of black coffee. Then, it was back to the bridge for her.

He had taught her the basics of piloting, so (just in case) she knew how to fly. This was one of those aforementioned situations.

She strapped herself in and checked all of the necessary things, such as radar, fuel, and whatnot. When she checked auto-pilot, she was surprised. They were going to pass Fuliton. This was her chance to start a new life. Happiness eddied through her, but a blinking blip on the radar ended it quickly.

"Event Horizon, you are in prohibited space. We are docking and coming aboard. Over." Panic filled her. They were coming? Aboard! That was horrible. She got on the computers and checked out the ships stats.

It was a fuckin' Merc ship. They had found them, now they would kill her and him. Great. She walked to the boarding area just as they came in.

"Hey, babe," One said. He had greasy blonde hair and stubble on his face. He eyed her hungrily.

"Get bent, asshole." She replied quickly. She hoped her voice was as confident as she was scared.

"We checked your ship, and it read that a convict was here," The Merc captain said. "We are going to search your ship." He looked at her.

"Like hell you are," Adasta blurted. One of the men came up and slapped her brutally across the face.

"You will not speak that way to our captain, wench!" He yelled. She stood back up, tasting blood on her lip. She smiled evilly. Time to play, bitch, she thought. She knew her demon was coming out, and she welcomed it with open arms.

Venom, it seemed, was filling her veins. A line from a ancient play from Shakespeare, whispered in her mind: …Make thick my blood, and stop up the access and passages to remorse, so that no compunctions or visitings of nature shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between the effect and it… It was here that Adasta closed her eyes to her attackers, putting on the front of submission. She felt the sacred anger and hatred welling up inside her, taking over her senses until the only feeling left was the desire for death. She wanted to feel their blood run over her hands, she wanted to beat them, make them die. She wanted to leap out at them, and scratch out their eyes with her fingernails, and laugh as they wandered blindly around. They were now her new playthings, and, as the spirit law demanded, she must satisfy her demon.

And that is what she did.

Her eyes opened slowly, as she stared at them. They gaped at her entirely black eyes, which held neither pupils nor irises- even the whites where black. She stared at them all in turn, sizing them up. She smiled gaily at them, her mind thinking random thoughts.

She went for the one that hit her first. Sharpened roots sprung out of her hands, impaling the unsuspecting man through his stomach, then nailing him to the wall. He stared at the root in his gut dumbly, as if he were dreaming. When his lifeblood began dripping from the corners of his mouth, Adasta laughed. A low, menacing, growl of a laugh that scared the rest of the crew shitless. She smiled innocently at them as their crewmate died, pinned against the wall.

She went for them all while they were still in shock. She made dirt materialize, then pile on them in tons, crushing them. Boulders came on top of that, ending any possible survivors. Then, as soon as she had made them appear, they were gone, and only left behind five dead men. They were smooshed, their entrails were strewn about the areas around them. She would have liked killing them slower, but hey.

Adasta cleaned up her mess, and ejected the bodies into space where they would lie for eternity, as long no one found them.

"That was one hell of a show," Riddick said, stepping out of the shadows. That seemed to be his specialty. "Didn't know you had it in ya,"

"Actually," She corrected him. "I do." Then, she felt like having fun with him. "Hit me," She demanded. He raised his eyebrows at her.

"Why the fuck would I do that?" he asked sarcastically.

She pouted. "Hit me right in the nose," She said, standing up to her tallest extent.

"No," He said, shaking his head at her.

"Is big bad to scared to hit a girl?" She taunted, laughing at him. "Are you too scared of Adasta to throw a punch, _Dick?_" She knew how to make him mad. Hell, she did it every other day. When he did start throwing punches, she bobbed and weaved away from them, dodging them with ease. On the fifth one, however, she let it connect cleanly with her nose.

Ruby red blood gushed out of a broken nose, pain pounding through her like flashes of lightning. She smiled then, looking at Riddick with a gleam in her eyes. They faded to black, but instead of stopping her demon from fully taking over, she let it go, losing herself in the pleasure of pure malice and wrath. She spun in a circle, arms out wide, head tilted back, smiling like there was no tomorrow. The familiar madness overtook her, swinging her upward towards a huge black onyx pool. Her heart clenched and unclenched, then another uplifting feeling vibrated through her, a feeling of freedom tethered to hate. She lost herself in the moment, letting her feelings bring her to the onyx pool. Her eyes opened for a split second, so she could get her bearings straight on where Riddick was. Things that she had thought when she was a child echoed in her mind.

_Sometimes I hear things…_

_Things that aren't there… _

_They play games inside my mind…_

_Then I get so mad for no reason…_

_I just want to kill those around me… _

_Why is that, Mommy?_

She tumbled in a heap to the floor. To Riddick, she looked like she had gone unconscious. He walked to stand beside her, then knelt to check her pulse.

Adasta felt his fingers on her neck, and smiled evilly. The familiar voice of the K'Varuun spoke inside her mind.

Time to play games, bitch.

Riddick jerked his hand back as he felt Adasta's neck muscles move as she smiled. She stood up slowly, eyes to the floor.

"Adasta?" Riddick said, looking at her with concern. "Are you okay?"

She smiled again, bringing her head up slowly, gazing at him.

_Holy shit. _He thought. _Her eyes, her fuckin' eyes are black! _ He looked at her, amazed. Not everyday did you see someone like this.

"Hello, Riddick," She said, her voice different from normal. It had a smooth, silky quality to it that only he could notice. Her voice was tainted with evil. "I've wanted to get out and talk to you for so long." He just looked at her, showing no emotion. He could smell her evil pouring off of her, and a different scent, one of magic, one of death. Whoa.

"Adasta?" he asked quietly.

She laughed at him, her black eyes twinkling. "I am no Adasta. I am K'Varuun, and you will fear me."

Now it was his turn to laugh at her. "Listen, Adasta, I know all of your old games. You can't beat me if you tried."

"Let us play new ones, then," She said, laying on the floor like she was going to do a push-up. He backed away from her a few feet, letting her get herself get ready.

What she did next amazed him.

Adasta threw her body upward, spinning so she was on her back, then pushed upward again, launching herself to the ceiling. She caught it with ease, her nails embedding themselves in the metal of the hull. She crawled, upside down, to him, and then dropped to the floor, smiling gaily at him. She stared at the floor around him, and a hissing sound came to his ears, along with a stifling heat.

The floor around him had turned to lava. He was left standing on a tiny island, just big enough for his feet and balance.

"Not so big and bad now, are we, Dick?" She taunted at him, her voice low and menacing.

"You wait till I get over there," he said darkly. "I'll wipe that smirk off your face,"

"I'll let you try, she said, and the lava turned to steel again.

He charged her ferociously, but she dodged quickly. All of his swings met empty air, and she giggled like a child with a new toy. After a few more swings, she blew air at him that turned to burning sand. He yelled and rubbed his eyes, ceasing his assault on her.

Her vines grabbed Riddick's waist, lifting him up in the air, then flinging him across the room brutally. Adasta grabbed him again, and smashed him against the floor, just like a child with a rag doll.

She let him go, and he stood shakily.

"Do you like my games?" She asked with an innocent smile on her face.

"The most dangerous mask of all is the mask of innocence," He muttered at her. "But your mask is particularly ugly."

"Bastard!" She howled in fury. "You _WILL_ regret that!" The room began vibrating and shaking, various items falling off of shelves and smashing on the floor. Her eyes burned a fiery red, and steam seeped from her pores. She smashed her hands together, and a sonic clap bellowed in the room.

Riddick stood there, watching her. He knew he had pissed her off, but just to see what she was capable of. He had fucked up big-time.

Adasta's hands separated slowly, a glowing substance between them. It exploded into a ball of fire and napalm, and then she sent it flying at Riddick. He dodged just in time, and then saw her fall. The destruction stopped, and everything was quiet. Adasta lay still on the floor, her spiritual energy drained.

He ached all over from being batted around, but still walked over and picked her up, carrying her to his old room and laying her on the bed. Adasta's skin was hot from the temporary fire elements. As he layed her down, her eyes opened, and she looked at him.

"What all did she do?" Adasta asked, addressing her demon.

"Lots," Riddick said gruffly. He wasn't ever going to piss her off again. "I now know what it feels like to be a cat toy." Adasta smiled again, her old smile, the one he was used to seeing. Her unique scent was back, as mischievous and curious as ever.

"I will tell you after I rest." She said, closing her eyes and relaxing. He pulled the blanket around her, then left.

A few hours later, he sensed something that made his hair stand on end. It was like a surge of power, and it was coming from Adasta.

He ran to her room, expecting the worst. Maybe she had blown herself up, maybe mercs were on board… maybe anything!

When he got there, he was amazed. Flowers and plants were growing everywhere, climbing up the walls, the floor, and the ceiling. Thick grasses blanketed the floor, and daisies were popping up in various places. It was beautiful. He realized that her energy was rebooting itself, like electricity does after a storm. He calmed himself down, and walked over to her bedside, his boots sinking in the new carpeting.

Her hand reached out, grabbing his wrist, almost crushing it.


	3. The Protector and The Guardian

Author's Note: I had a review that stated that the reader wished for the 'evil persona' to be gone. I suspected that it was the name of Riddick's ship (Event Horizon) that prompted it, but after reviewing the previous chapter "Flowers Accompany Death", I have decided to change a few things. Adasta's experiences with her "demons" were just a dream, and the ship's name is now "Omega 99". Also, Riddick nor any other things mentioned in my story do not belong to me. However, Adasta and H'Karun, Gracarda, Braun, etc. do.

Adasta's eyes flew open, and pain erupted in her head, and she groaned, rolling over face-first in her pillow. Her head ached like a sonofabitch. She vaguely remembered helping Riddick with the bolts, then them snapping and the pipe banging her head. She had had the strangest dream… about Mercs and evil demons…

"That pipe gave you a hell of a beatin'," Riddick said, coming through the doorway. "You've been out for about seven hours." He walked over to the bedside and sat on the corner.

"Have I really?" She asked. The dream had seemed so real… she shook her head slightly, ridding herself of the images. Oh well. She knew that she wasn't that monster she had been in her dream. She rubbed her eyes free of sleep, and her hand bumped the knot on her forehead. "Ouch!" She cried, jerking her hand back. Riddick smiled and handed her an icepack.

"Here," he said. "This will numb the pain." Adasta took it willingly and held it to the goosebump, shivering from the sudden cold.

"I need to talk to you," She said, looking at him, remembering Fuliton from her dream.

"Yeah?" He said, looking at her face through his goggles. Then he remembered something, too. "I need to talk to you, too."

"I need to go to Fuliton," She said hurriedly. She put the icepack down and looked at her hands. "I plan on living there,"

Riddick felt a strange sadness in him. He had grown accustomed the bright, enigmatic girl, and would miss her company, as strange as it was. But if she wanted to go, she could.

"Nothing's keeping you here," He muttered. "But I have to stop in New Mecca to re-supply and for you to go shopping. I also know people there, and we'll be paying them a visit." Adasta's face lit up like a new star at the mention of people. Her eyes twinkled and her cheeks dimpled when she smiled widely.

"People?" She asked excitedly.

"Yeah, a kid and a holy man," Riddick said, her happiness rubbing off on him. He remembered Jack and Imam and smiled. "Kid's name is Jack, but she's a girl. Took 'em off of T2." T2 got a blank stare from Adasta, and she looked at him curiously. He knew questions were coming, so he hurried along. "We'll go in cryo-sleep till we get there." Adasta nodded her head in agreement.

"I've heard a bunch of things about cryo," She said, trying to make more conversation. "How long will we be under?"

"For about 34 days," Riddick replied. "But it only seems like 34 seconds. We can go under in about thirty minutes, I just have to set the auto-pilot up."

The idea of being in cryo-sleep didn't appeal to Adasta much. Being out of everything for 34 days frightened her. What if she had a heart attack or something, or she forgot to breathe? All the what if's scared her. She began fidgeting with her hands.

"Never been in cryo-sleep before?" He asked her, as he walked out of the room. She trailed along behind him.

"No," She said, looking at the back of his head. "I don't like the idea of chemicals in my body," He looked at her, with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face.

"Are you a hippie?" He asked her sarcastically. She frowned at him.

"No! A 'hippie'," She said, anger in her voice, "is a stupid person who blows everything out of proportion! I dislike them immensely!" She made a small huffing noise through her nose. Riddick had noticed that whatever emotion she was feeling was accompanied by a small noise. He liked it, and thought it was cute.

"God! Don't get offended," He growled. "I was just asking a simple question," He set the auto-pilot on and walked to the cryo-chairs, and motioned for her to sit down. "When I put the needle in, it'll hurt, but don't tense," He instructed. Adasta nodded, and relaxed in the chair. He pumped the I.V. full of the blue fluid, then took the long needle and pinched the delicate skin of Adasta's inner elbow. He glanced up at her through his goggles, and saw that her eyes were shut and her mouth pinched together. He smiled, and put the needle in her arm quickly. She squeaked as the needle penetrated her skin, and the blue fluid drained into her body. Quickly, her eyes took on the glazed look that many first-timers experienced. "Please lock your tray in the upright position, and good night," Riddick said, taking his fingertips and closing Adasta's eyelids gently. She smiled lightly, the tips of her cherubic mouth turning up. Her breathing became lighter, and shallower, and then she fell asleep. He smiled again, looking at her sleeping form. Then he buckled himself up and went under also.

34 DAYS LATER

Adasta's eyes fluttered open slowly. She had had one jacked-up dream. She shook her head quickly to clear her mind, her greasy, unwashed hair swinging about her head. A snore came form Riddick, followed by some high-intensity crotch scratching. Adasta smiled. She liked the large, gruff man. He had made a good first impression, and she believed that a first impression usually exposes the person inside. He had saved her life, and she would always be in debt to him. She made a mental note to always remember that.

As she tried to figure out the complex latches for her chair restraints, Adasta planned out her day. First, she would check on the destination tracker, take a shower, see if Riddick was up, then get him up if he wasn't, then eat. Food made her realize that she was starving. She walked back into the room with a plate full of fried potatoes (a food Riddick had introduced her to), and plopped down on the floor. According to the analog on the destination tracker, they would be on Helion Prime in about five hours. Maybe she should wake up Riddick, she thought, chewing on the potatoes. After all, she had no idea how to land these things. Adasta took her fork from her mouth and poked his leg gently, but all he did was shift around. She frowned, setting her plate down and standing up beside him. Time to be bad, she thought, looking at him. She studied his face closely, then deciding he was asleep. Maybe he was ticklish? She wiggled her fingers lightly, in a feather-like caress, under his armpit. When he twitched, she knew she was getting somewhere. And with his arms locked down, he couldn't do a single thing about it. She smiled in triumph, and tickled his side.

"I've been awake for quite awhile," He said suddenly, startling Adasta and almost making her fall over. "Did you know that you grind your teeth in your sleep?" She looked at him with big, innocent eyes. "Sexy," He said, giving her a half smile. What he didn't expect was for her to blush. To him, it was cute. He made a mental note to do it more often. She tilted her head down, brushing an oily lock of hair out of her face, avoiding his eyes.

"I call shower!" She screeched, leaping up and dashing down the hallway, her excitement coming out of nowhere. Riddick shook his head, and undid his straps, and got up. He ran a hand over his head, feeling sharp stubbles of hair. He really needed to shave. But with Adasta's obsession with her hygiene, (a shower in the morning and one at night) he barely had time to take a good shower or a shave, for that matter. He went to the bridge and checked all the fuel levels and the autopilot, then went to the kitchen for some coffee and a snack.

Adasta stripped down in front of the full-length mirror, eyeing her body critically. She didn't really like her body's shape. Too often had a man's eyes drifted over her to look at one of her friends. To herself, she looked like a large, underdeveloped girl. Her breasts were not large at all, and seemed to be almost nonexistent compared to her ribcage, which took up 90 percent of her upper body. The plus to this was that she was a great runner, and could hold her breath for five minutes. She held up her arms and flexed, frowning. Her girlfriends told her that she had the upper body of a man, and was not at all feminine. Oh, how Adasta hated that. The only thing she liked about her bod was her legs. Long, well built, great for running and kickboxing. She smiled. Her legs were her pride. Her chest swelled up with pride as it always did when she was happy about something. She turned on the water and stepped in, quickly scrubbing her dirty hair and shaving her legs and pits. She wrapped a towel around herself and dashed to her room and threw on some clothes, putting a belt on to hold up her Riddick-sized pants. About thirty minutes later, she walked into the bridge to talk to Riddick. When she sat down, she noticed the lack of fauna and flora, and deposited a rose bush in an unoccupied bucket.

"What is it with you and makin' plants?" Riddick asked grumpily. Adasta looked at him.

"It is my nature to create life," She said primly. "I am an earth nymph. That is my purpose. To put life where there is none,"

He looked back at her. "I wish I could do that," He said quietly, looking at the stars. "Put back some of the life I have destroyed,"

Adasta sighed, and beckoned him to join her on the floor. "Richard," She said, using his first name, "Everyone has the capability to create and end life. It is to what extent they use it." She looked at her hands as she said that. "Even you," He looked back at her, not really listening. She 'hfffed', and grabbed his hands, folding them into a cup-like stance, putting hers over his. She blew into them, her warm breath sending shivers down his spine. She pulled back and closed her eyes, letting her magic do it's thing. Riddick felt a flutter in his hands, and looked at Adasta, who was now smiling at him.

"Open them," She said, and he did. A large, beautifully colored Zebra butterfly floated lazily out, bobbing in the air gracefully. "See?" She asked, looking at his amazed expression. "If you were truly evil, that life would have died,"

"Okay…" he said, thinking. Maybe she was right. Adasta frowned again, thinking he was ignoring her.

"Just because you think that you are a monster in here," She touched a finger to his temple, "Doesn't mean you are one in here," And she laid her hand over his heart. "I know that there is a good man in there somewhere, along with a beast. As long as you balance them out, you too will be balanced." And with that, she got up and walked to her room.

Riddick watched her retreating back with astonishment. No one, except Carolyn, had ever told him that, but Adasta was the first to state it so plainly. So she, a little stick compared to him- thought he was a good person? He felt a sense of pride well up inside him. At least someone understood him, to an extent. He smiled as he took the ship of autopilot and set down at the controls. He felt like flying. He reclined back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head.

She could not believe she had just said that to him. Adasta leaned against the doorframe, eyes closed. To her, her words were like ones spoken to a lover, not a friend. And they were certainly not lovers. She contemplated the thought for a moment, but she didn't see it happening. They were too much like brother and sister now. She sighed, looking at the ceiling, then walked back to the bridge.

He had been thinking about god when Adasta walked back in, sitting in the co-pilots' seat. He looked at her, then out at space.

"Have you ever really looked out at the stars?" he asked her. "I mean, looked at them and forgot everything, like who you are and why you are here?"

"I do it all the time," She replied, hands on her knees. Then she leaned back in the seat.

"What do you think about god?" Riddick asked her quickly. When she looked at him, he avoided her gaze.

She sighed. "I believe that there is one God, and he sent a son from above to save us. If we do good in life, we are allowed to enter Paradise, but if we are bad, we go to hell."

"So I'd go to Hell?"

"Only if you kill for pleasure, or are truly evil."

"Do you have any legends?" He asked her. He liked stories.

"There is one," Adasta said. "A long time ago, when the universe was young, God made the three Realms. One of Good, one of Magic, and one of Evil. He was obliged to make one for the Devil, that is the Realm of Chaos. The realm of Chaos grew out of control, and began taking over the realm of Good, sending it's minions and demons through a thing called the Threshold. In the realm of Good, a planet lay, H'Karun, my home. It was also called Furia 1"

Riddick interrupted her. "Whoa whoa whoa! Furia was destroyed! That's not possible!"

"Furia 2 was destroyed. Furia means "the first planet", as does H'Karun. They are the same place."

"I'm a furian, though," Riddick mused. Maybe he could find his home, after all.

"Really!" Adasta squealed out of happiness. "But on with my story. H'Karun was, and is, the protector planet of the realm of Good. It is said, a man from H'Karun and a Guardian, a woman chosen by God to lead him to the Devil, will be the ones to save the universe."

"Didn't you say something about a threshold?" He asked her. Those damned Necros' had a thing called a threshold. It was the gateway to the "Underverse", as they called it. Stupid, really. But hey, maybe this was the entry to the world of Chaos, or whatever Adasta called it. He frowned. "There's a religion that has a thing called the threshold, they go to it when they die,"

"Necromongers!" Adasta exclaimed, horror in her voice. Fear dripped off of her, he could smell it. "They are our worst enemies! They are some of the things from the Devil!" Her eyes were wide with fear, then they narrowed. "I must go through the threshold," She whispered.

"No, you're not," Riddick said gruffly. No way in hell was she going there, not if he could help it. "I'm not sending you halfway across the fuckin' universe just so you can die. Fuck that," He ended his sentence yelling.

"It is an obligation to my planet, my family, and this realm!" She too was yelling now. "I must try to stop the Devil from annihilating this entire universe!" She was standing now, hands on hips, eyes blazing. He frowned at her, his face contorted with fury.

"You are not going!" He yelled at her.

"Yes I AM!" She retorted.

"No."

"yes."

"NO!"

"YES!" They were nose to nose now. Even though Adasta was a full head shorter that Riddick, she seemed bigger when she was angry. "I AM going! I'll hitchhike all the way there if I have too!" She stomped off angrily, her face red and making little annoyed noises. "I'll find my own ship and fly it there if I have too, I'll get the best crew from anywhere, even Mercs!" She plopped on the bed, thinking. Each and every H'Karun citizen, at the age of 16, made an oath to stop the tirade of evil in the realms, even if it meant death. The realms were known only by the people of H'Karun, and only them. This also went for the whole battle of evil thing as well.

She would have to find the man who was the Protector, though. And the Guardian. She sighed. Adasta would do that later. Right now she wanted to go shopping and meet Riddick's friends. She wondered what they would be like. The Protector and the Guardian


	4. Mysterious Things happen in the market

Adasta sat quietly on the edge of her bed, picking at her fingernails. I wonder what Riddick's friends will be like, she thought. She was anxious to meet them, because she hadn't talked to anyone other than Riddick for a very long time. A 'very long time to Adasta was, on average, about four months. But they liked each other's company. Riddick liked to hear stories, for some odd reason, and the society that Adasta had grown up in was chock full of stories and legends. Mostly they were the happy ending type stories, but there were always the sad ones. The one she had first told Riddick, of the Guardian and the Protector, had been weighing heavily in the back of her mind lately. She rolled her eyes and flopped onto her back, looking up at the ceiling. Today was her birthday, and, by tradition, she was supposed to be married off today. Then I'm lucky, she thought solemnly. She sighed and closed her eyes.

"We're getting ready to land, I'll need you in the copilot's seat." Riddick said, coming through the doorway.

"Okay," She said, getting up and trailing behind him. Ever since her little speech about him having a good side, she had felt awkward around him. It wasn't that she was shy, they had gotten past that. She just felt weird. Oh well, she thought slowly. I'll figure it out if the god's permit.

"This is for forwards and backwards, this is for speed, and this is the hover mode button," Riddick explained, showing her all of the miscellaneous gadgets on the console of the ship. "And this," He said, pointing towards a red button, "Is _only _for star jumping." He was met with a confused expression on Adasta's face. "Goin' so fast that no one can see us," He said, a hint of exasperation in his voice. Adasta picked it up immediately.

"I'm sorry," She said solemnly, bowing her head slightly. He thinks that I'm stupid, she thought sadly. I should have known that.

"For what? You didn't do anything," He said, raising his eyebrows.

"I… don't know." She said almost silently. She looked up at him through her amber bangs. He was looking at her through his goggles.

"Hey, it ain't your fault," He grumbled, sitting in the copilots' seat. "Now sit your ass down and let's see if you can fly."

Fright pounded through her. How could he expect her to fly so quickly? He had just shown her the controls. Now or never, she thought, sitting down slowly and taking the controls in her hands. She pushed forward slightly, and felt the ship move. Then, gaining more confidence, pressed forward harder, sending the ship shooting ahead. A big smile broke across her face as she flew between the stars. She saw a planet up ahead, then looked over at Riddick.

I am so glad I am wearing these goggles, he thought. He didn't want her to see him with his eyes squinted shut. Never, ever, had he expected someone to catch on so quickly. Some catch on fast, he thought. Maybe she was smarter than he thought. He didn't notice that the ship was slowing down and had stopped. He heard her stand up and move, so he took control of the ship.

"We'll be in New Mecca in about thirty minutes," He said, steering the ship towards Helion Prime's atmosphere. "Hang on to somethin'," He said, looking over at her. They speeded towards the planet so fast, Adasta didn't have time to notice what they were doing. As they began nearing the planet, the ship began vibrating a bit, then more, until it was shaking completely. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! Adasta thought. "Ready!" Riddick yelled, as Adasta looked over at him. All of his muscles were tensed up, as he struggled to control the ship. They flew straight down, and Adasta was positive that they were going to crash, but just as it seemed inevitable, Riddick pulled out of the nose-dive and brought them horizontal.

Holy shit, Riddick thought. I knew I was tryin' to scare her, but I scared myself. Shit. He looked over at her, and was amused by what he saw. She was squashed into the back of the seat, hand on the armrest, gripping so tight that her knuckles were white with strain. Her golden eyes were wide with fear, and her mouth was partly open.

He poked her shoulder gently. "You can breathe again---"

"Don't touch me," She commanded, eyes staring straight ahead.

"Why not?" He asked, amused.

"Because I'm dead," She stammered.

"Oh, come on," He said, landing behind a particularly large dune of sand. He unstrapped himself and stood, stretching. Then he undid her and hauled her to her feet. "You're not dead." She stood uncertainly, her legs wobbly. Adasta groaned, leaning against the wall, putting her hand to her forehead.

"I feel like it," She muttered, staggering to the bedroom, and collapsing on the bed, closing her eyes. Adasta found comfort in the darkness behind her eyelids, sinking and immersing herself in it. She sighed happily, rolling onto her stomach.

"Get movin'," Riddick said, poking his head through the doorway. "We ain't got all day," He said. Adasta stood, and ran a hand through her uncombed hair.

"Do you have the decency to let me use a brush?" She grumbled at him from the bed. He chucked one at her.

Pain exploded in tiny stars in her mind. "You bastard!" She howled, holding her injured head. "That hurt!" She picked up the brush and threw it at him. It hit him in the face also, but he made no move to block it. "I'm sorry," She said, looking at the angry red welt on his cheek. Her head bowed once again, just as when he was teaching her how to pilot. Riddick's curiosity got the better of him, this time.

"Why do you bow your head like that?" He asked her nonchalantly.

Adasta didn't respond quickly. Instead, she sat up and put her chin in her hands, contemplating her response. "Because…" She began slowly, "I am a girl, and girls are supposed to know everything, I guess." She looked down at the floor. "We are shunned if we act stupid." Her voice was quiet and solemn.

"Oh," Riddick said. "What assholes." He looked out the window. "We need to get goin', and I want you to meet Jack, and you two can go shopping." Her eyes brightened considerably at the mention of shopping. She would get to barter again! Adasta thought happily, as Riddick handed her the brush and she pulled it through her hair. It snagged at a base of a particularly large knot, or a 'rat's nest', as her mother used to say.

"Ouch!" Adasta cried out painfully. She rubbed her scalp tenderly. "Stupid knot!"

"Here," Riddick said gruffly, walking over to her. "I'll get it."

"Are you sure?" Adasta asked uncertainly. Surely the large, extremely muscled man knew nothing of brushing hair. He'd probably even pull hard.

"Yeah," He said gruffly. Riddick took her hair gently in his hands, rubbing the red spot where she had almost ripped her hair off. He massaged it gently, then looked at the knot, tugging on the strands of her curly, burnished golden tresses. Her hair was like woven butterfly silk; soft, beautiful, and shimmering.

Her eyes were squinted shut, as she awaited the what seemed inevitable pain of him pulling her hair, but instead, he soothingly and tenderly massaged her head with his fingertips, driving the pain away. Then, he softly and slowly tugged the knot apart, and brushed her shoulder-length hair free of tangles.

Riddick could not believe what had just happened. He, the biggest, baddest, most malicious man on the face of the universe, was combing a nymph's hair as if she was his most precious lover. Yes, she was a nymph, she had told him that, but they were not lovers. They were friends, as much as Riddick didn't want to be. But he did have a thing for hair. Especially curly, soft, amber hair, and legs. Long legs. Both of which Adasta had. Shut up! His reasonable side commanded. She's like a sister! _A freakin' hot sister,_ the animal said. Inside, he rolled his eyes at the both of them.

"Thank you," Adasta said, turning and looking up at him. Then, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. Oh, how she loved the feeling of his beautifully sculpted muscles tensing. He was a handsomely crafted man, with tanned skin that looked rough but was velvety and soft. Once, she had seen him in his dojo, working out, and was mesmerized by what she saw. He had moved so fluidly, so quickly, so… deadly. Every muscle stood out, glistening with sweat and exertion. Only for a second had she watched him, before she turned and walked away.

He had not expected her to hug him. A thank you, sure, but a hug? Completely unexpected. Cautiously, he hugged her back, pulling her willowy frame to him. They stood like that for a long moment, then she pulled away and smiled at him.

"Can we go now?" She asked excitedly. Inside, she was anxious to get away. On H'Karun, a gesture such as a hug to a male not in the family could get you exiled. She seemed to feel the Elder's eyes on her now. She brushed the feelings off of her quickly. Her mind went back to the Protector and the Guardian. Maybe they could stop at Haravium, H'Karun's holy planet/sanctuary. It wasn't too far from Helion Prime. She could probably do research in the Sacred Records there, too. Research would probably be the best thing to do at this point, as being that there was a census every year at H'Karun, dating back to the First Coming, where the Protector and the Guardian had began their lineages. Only those of their blood could end what they had begun so long ago. She sighed mentally. Lots and lots of research, she thought miserably. But she felt as if the task was hers, and had been laid upon her shoulders. She would talk to Riddick about Haravium later.

"Yeah," Riddick responded, looking at her. He turned and went to the bridge to 'fiddle with the goddamned mechanics', as he had said. He locked all of the doors and did everything, then got some clothes together for him and Adasta. He was positive that Imam and Jack would want them to spend the night. It would be courteous, and Imam was all about being nice and respectful, including courteous. And Jack would most certainly be curious about Adasta, and then Adasta would show Jack her abilities, and Imam would go psycho or some shit, then yeah. Now he was having doubts about bringing Adasta to New Mecca. Oh well. Can't fight the inevitable, he thought. Riddick put the clothes in a duffel bag and set it aside. He caught a faint light scent of lavender from one of his tanks. He frowned slightly, bringing it up to his nose and inhaling deeply. It was lavender, which meant that Adasta had been wearing it. The shirt also smelled of the earthy/rosy aroma that was uniquely Adasta. He sighed and put it in the bag. Finally, she would be able to buy her own clothes and stop wearing his. He had to admit, his clothes did look cute on her. But he had a limited amount of clothing, and now he had to cut it in half because of her arrival. Oh well.  
Riddick grabbed his bag and headed off to find Adasta, who was playing in her room with some sort of poisonous plant thing.  
He heard her giggling from down that hall, and knew she was up to something.

"What are you---" His words were cut short when a spiny dart shot out of some plant, and struck the wall next to him, hydrochloric acid dribbling out and burning furrows in the wall. "Holy fuck, Adasta!" He yelled, looking at the Venus flytrap thing. "What would you have done if that would have hit me!"

"I was just experimenting," She said shamefully. "I didn't know that it would shoot at you," She looked up at him through her bangs like she did when she was upset.

"Tell me before you 'experiment' again, will ya?" He muttered. Great, he thought. Now I have to worry about mutant acidic plants running around. I feel like a goddamned baby sitter.


	5. Coming out of the Closet

"Now remember," Riddick said warningly, "I don't want you showing off to Jack until I say you can." They were standing in front of Imam's large two-story house on the wealthy side of New Mecca. The temperature was around 90 degrees- in the shade. Adasta was not accustomed to this much heat and was sweating horribly.

"Okay, okay, I know," She grumbled. Riddick must have told her that almost a hundred times not to 'show off to anyone'. His words of warning were starting to get annoying. "Why don't you tell me again to refresh my memory?" She was on thin ice and she knew it.

What did she just say! His beast roared. Show that bitch who's boss! Before he knew it, he had her pressed up against the door, shiv under her chin. "Hold your tongue or I'll cut it out for you!" He hissed under his breath, centimeters away from her face.

One of the acidic plants emerged from her forehead, opening its petals, ready to shoot out the deadly dart to defend it's mistress. "Let me down or you'll get a dose of hydrochloric acid in your skull," Adasta said calmly. But under her voice, Riddick could detect fear.

"You wouldn't," He growled, pressing the shiv deeper. Even though he had gotten brown contacts, she could still see the danger lurking beneath his eyes, in his subconscious.

"I will if I have too," Adasta said, exposing the desire to not harm him. Riddick knew that she could maim or even kill him if she wanted to, but she wouldn't because she considered him a friend.

He paused for a second, and then let her down. "Behave," He said, and then was quiet. He raised his fist and knocked softly on the door a few times. After a few seconds, they heard faint footsteps running down a hallway upstairs, then down a staircase, stopping in front of the door. She heard a girl screech with excitement, then the door flew open. A skinny twelve year old came barreling out, jumping on Riddick and wrapping arms and legs around him. The girl, who Adasta supposed was Jack, planted a kiss on Riddick's cheek.

"Hi to you too, Jack," Riddick grumbled happily. He peeled the smiling girl off of him and plopped her down on the ground. "How've ya been?"

"Spiffy," Jack grinned, looking over at Adasta. "Who's…?" She asked under her breath, tilting her head in Adasta's direction.

"I'll tell you when we get inside," He said, dropping a hint.

"Ooh!" Jack exclaimed, pulling Riddick inside. Adasta trailed along behind them.

Jack led them to the big living room, and took Riddick's duffle bag from him, taking it up to the guest room upstairs. When she came back down, Riddick was sprawled on one end of the poofy sofa, and Adasta was sitting on the other end, looking like she was sitting on a cloud and didn't want to fall off. Riddick looked like he was in sofa-heaven. His eyes were even closed.

"So are you two together?" Jack asked quickly, looking at the both of them. Adasta looked up, surprised, and Riddick jerked awake and put his elbows on his knees.

"No," Adasta replied, "We're just friends," Riddick leaned back again, seeing the situation taken care of.

"So where are you going?" Jack asked. She seemed full of questions.

"I'm going to, ummm, Haravium," Adasta said quickly, then followed up with: "And then to Fuliton." Riddick frowned. She had never said anything about Haravium. He'd have to talk to her about it.

"Ahh." Jack murmured. "So how did you two meet up?"

Riddick spoke first. "A party on her planet. There was trouble, and she saved me, then got stabbed in the gut and knocked out, so I saved her."

"Neat!" Jack exclaimed. "How did you save him?" She asked Adasta, who looked over at Riddick. He nodded.

"I have special abilities, and I used them to save him."

"What kind of abilities?" Jack asked, full of anticipation. Maybe the chick knew some fancy kind of karate or kung fu.

"I'm an earth nymph," Adasta said brightly.

Jack looked at the auburn-haired woman curiously. "What's an earth nymph?" She asked.

"Here we go again," Riddick muttered quietly, remembering his first encounter with Adasta's 'special abilities'.

"I can control any and all plant life, rocks, dirt, lava, and some acidic bases." Adasta explained. To add emphasis to her statement, she brought up her left hand, palm facing Jack. She put her fingers together, and then pulled them apart slowly. An eerie greenish glow came from them, and then a slender tendril of a clematis vine appeared. It shot up, sending out smaller vines, along with leaves and flower buds. The buds bloomed, giving way to five-petal purple beauties. The vines formed the words 'Hello Jack', before going back into Adasta's hand. Jack squealed in delight.

"What else can you do?" She asked happily.

"I can make poisonous plants that shoot out acid darts---" Adasta began quickly, but Riddick butted in.

"No!" He almost yelled. "Not after what happened on the ship!"

"One almost hit him," Adasta said, grinning. She giggled.

"Naughty, mischievous little bitch," Riddick grumbled, looking at her. He winked at Adasta, making her blush and turn away. "Where's Imam?" He asked Jack, looking at her.

"Out and about," She replied. "He's getting married so he's probably out doing…" She thought for a second. "I don't know."

"I was thinking that you and Addie," He looked at Adasta. "Could go out shopping for some clothes. She's wearing mine and I hardly have any left that don't smell like fuckin' roses." He grumbled.

Jack's face lit up. "Cool!" She yelled. Riddick tossed Adasta a cred chip.

"There's 1.5 million creds on that, so have fun." He said. "I'm going to take a shower."

Jack and Adasta stood up. "We'll be back in a few hours," Adasta said.

"As long as it's before dark," Riddick said to their retreating backs.

"So where do you want to go first?" Jack asked Adasta, who was looking at all the stores.

"I don't know," She replied slowly. "Where ever you wanna go,"

"To the thrift store!" Jack declared happily, marching through the crowds. They got to the thrift store fairly quickly, and the bell dingled quietly as they went in.

The store smelled of dust and old clothing, Adasta looked around happily. This was her kind of store. They had huge bolts of cloth on one wall, and shoes on the other, with racks and racks of funky clothes in the middle. Adasta made a beeline for the clothes while Jack went for the shoes.

"Hey, look at this one!" Adasta called out, holding a flimsy tube top up to her chest, twirling around in it. Jack looked at her and laughed, holding up some huge clodhoppers.

"Have fun!" The manager called out to them.

About an hour later, they left carrying four huge bags, leaving the manager looking very happy.

"Yay! That was so fun!" Jack said happily. "Imam hardly ever lets me go shopping,"

"It's been awhile for me too," Adasta smiled. When Jack didn't respond, Adasta looked over at her. She wasn't moving, she was frozen in mid-step. Adasta dropped her bags when she looked around at everyone else. They were frozen in the same fashion. On the edge of the street, a child was throwing water at another, but the droplets were suspended in mid-air. Adasta looked around again. To her left, about fifteen feet away, two dust devils were dancing in the middle of the street. They stopped, and out of them stepped a man and a woman. Adasta froze in shock.

They began walking towards her. The man was wearing a toga-like thing, and the woman wore a halter-top made of a white gauzy-like cloth and a long, sweeping skirt. Adasta squinted and focused on their faces. They looked like… they looked like…

"Adasta," The man said, his gravelly purr of a voice sending shivers down her spine. He bowed a little to her, his huge muscles flexing. If he would have not had his tattoos, he could have been Riddick's twin. Wait. Tattoos? A line of symbols stretched across his pectoral muscles, and a vertical line of them went down his abdomen, ending just above his belly button. The woman had a tattoo as well, but it was around her arm in a long spiral. She also wore a golden circlet, with a ruby in the center, accented by delicate golden chains.

"I believe you know who we are," The woman spoke, her voice sounding like water in a stream.

"Yes," Adasta murmured quietly.

"Then you know why we are here," The man grumbled gently. Then it clicked in Adasta's head. _She was the Guardian. _

"You must take the task upon you and Riddick," The woman said, looking at Adasta sadly.

"Why us?" She asked.

"Because you both have…" The man began.

"The strength to survive." The woman finished for him.

"Riddick will not believe me," Adasta said sadly. "He thinks your legend is farce," She looked at the ground, while the man and woman looked at each other, asking questions of each other and answering with their eyes.

"Give him this," The man said, sticking out his hand, a necklace materializing in it. A silver pendant hung on a silver chain, two symbols on each side. On the front, Riddick's full name, and on the back the sacred symbol for Furia.

"You will bear this," The woman said, taking off her circlet and giving it to Adasta. "It can transform into any piece of jewelry, and, if you die, your soul will go into the ruby so you can be brought back to life."

Adasta took it gratefully, and it turned into a ring, and she slipped it on her finger.

"Thank you," She said to her.

"You know your task," They both said, and they materialized into the sand again.

"Wait!" Adasta cried. It was well known that… "Which one of us dies?" That one of them would die. She looked at the ring and the necklace, and put the necklace on. She put all of her stuff back into the bags, and then time turned back to normal again. She was quiet for the rest of the way back to Imam's house, but Jack was talkative.

When they got to Imam's, Jack showed her to the guest room, and they saw Riddick sleeping soundly on the large bed. Adasta put all of her stuff she had bought on the floor and sat on the bed. The movement woke Riddick up.

"Just get back?" he asked, stretching and yawning.

"Yeah," She said. "I need to talk to you."

"'Bout what?" He asked, sitting up.

"They came to me. They came to me and told me to give you this," She blurted out, tossing the necklace to him. His eyes showed no emotion as he studied the necklace.

"Where the fuck did you get this?" He whispered. "How did you get this?"

"They gave it to me to give to you to prove that we have to do this!" Adasta exclaimed softly, trying not to yell. Riddick looked at her.

"The Slam took this from me and melted it into bullets. I saw them." He murmured, rubbing his hand across his head, looking at the necklace. "My foster sister gave it to me."

"Oh," Adasta said sadly. "Do you not believe me?" She asked slowly.

"Sister, I know there's someone out there that's always fuckin' my life up. And," He said angrily, "I am NOT about to help them."

Adasta stared at him in disbelief. How could he say that? He was just going to sit there and let everything around him go to hell- literally? "Really?" Adasta asked him slowly. "So you are willing to sacrifice the entire universe just because you have your head up your ass?"

His eyes shot daggers at her. Riddick felt like killing her, but he wanted to hear what she was going to say.

"She," Adasta said angrily, pointing out at the door, indicating Jack, "Loves you and idolizes you. Do you want her to be tortured to death? Or raped, beaten or whipped?" She paused. "Do you want to lose your last chance at finding yourself?"

He never expected her to say that. His insides were churning with argument.

"Whether you like it or not, the fate of three universes depends on US now. WE have to go and save all of them. In a few days, we will go to Haravium, and we will start out from there." She looked at him pointedly. He had to agree, he just had too.

"If I'm so goddamned special," he began, "Then why did they let me sit in those hellholes for so long?"

Adasta pondered his question for a moment. "Then you would have not have met me." She replied curtly. "And then we would not be able to save everything."

Riddick rolled his eyes. "Stupid religion shit," He swore quietly.

Adasta stared at him, her blood boiling. She had given him proof, and he was just dismissing it as a lie! Anger swelled in her heart. Quick as lightning, she threw out her palm, shooting out a vine and cocooning Riddick in it. He almost got away, but she tightened her grip, almost cutting of his air.

"You will listen to me," She demanded. "I have a family out there, and I have to save them. I will NOT sit back because you," She tightened the vines, and his face turned a shade of purple, "Are a pussy," She said the last word slowly, letting it sink in.

He had a shiv in his hand. Ever so slowly, he positioned it just right, then jerked his hand up and sliced through the vines. He fell to the floor, then launched himself at Adasta. He was furious. Before he knew it, he had her up against the wall, shiv at her throat.

"Don't EVER, ever, do that again," He growled angrily at her. "I'll go to Haravium with you, and play along with your little game," He let her down.

"Good," Adasta said, rubbing her throat, feeling a small cut where the blade had nicked her, and she healed it. "Time for bed, though."


End file.
